plenty of sewing time

Just popping in with a short post …

Mum is doing well; she has improved physically in the week she has been here which is a good sign. She is no longer stooped and shuffling; being undernourished will do that to you! Instead, she is eating very well and has regained her usual stride. Yesterday she even worked out in the garden with WM for a couple of hours.

Her biggest interest is reading and she spends hours absorbed in books. This frees me up to be in the sewing room so I am getting quite a bit done.

A couple of weeks ago, my quilting teacher donated a partially completed quilt to Caring Hearts Community Quilters – all I had to do was finish the quilting, make binding, attach it and sew it down. I have done all but the last task, so no photos until I show you the finished project!

My Jacob’s Ladder Goes Barn Raising is quilted. Life is so much easier when I think about the quilting before I pin baste; then I can position the pins out of the way of stitching lines. The quilting was done in no time but it seemed to take almost as long to sew in all the ends! You can’t see it here (because the photo is pre-quilting); I sewed diagonal lines about 5” apart through the centres of the squares that make up the diagonals.


The binding is cut and waiting for the strips to be joined.


I have also been knitting! Shock of shocks!!

In the past three days, I have worked on Crinkles Hoodie by doing a three needle bind off on the shoulders and starting the first sleeve (the photo, which is of the back, is really not worth showing but I know you like pictures! LOL)


Last December, I started knitting Charley Bear for my great-niece who will be two next month; I began on the train on 16 December and haven’t touched it since. On Monday, I stuffed the body and head. I am so not enjoying this! There are so many fiddly little pieces to come, of the type: CO 4 stitches, K 2 rows, increase either end of next row, knit 1 row. Bind off! I have no desire to be a toy maker! The head is on the left; it seems proportionally too large for the body!


And I’ve finished a pair of small women’s socks which were started on 21 February. The second sock was cast on 6 March.


My current reading is varied, but includes 100 Days of Real Food by Lisa Leake. She started a blog a few years ago and it led to a book! Our copy only arrived yesterday so I’m not really in a position to write a review just yet. It certainly is an interesting read.

There are some advantages to having had to cut back on my away-from-home activities, at least for a few weeks! ;-)

Linking up with WiP Wednesday and Yarn Along when they go live.
         


PS Is anyone else having trouble with Firefox working very slowly or is just us?

Something Old, something New – July edition

What a month June turned out to be: five days staying with my mother, three weeks with bronchitis, another three-day trip away to tutor two knitting workshops (“stranded colour knitting” and “using slipped stitches for colour and texture”) and hosting a couple who were billetted with us for four days! Needless to say, not much sewing happened during the month.

My stats show that less and less people are signing up for Something Old, something New each month; in fact, less and less people are visiting my blog period! I am tempted to stop the linky party right now but I need something to keep me working on my old projects – they have a way of wearing me down after a while! Just knowing they are there, in the background, whatever life throws at me, makes me want to get them finished! So, Something Old, Something New will continue, despite the fact that I seem to say the same thing -- “almost no progress” -- every month!

In June, my “Something Old” project was to have been a pair of curtains I started way too long ago. Those poor old curtains never even made it out of the cupboard! What little time I had in front of the machine (not a lot when you’re coughing ‘fit to bust’) was spent working on the Country Houses quilt, which had been my Something Old project earlier this year. I was working away on it, making reasonable progress, when I found a small hole right on the seam line of one of the central blocks! I had to unpick some quilting, and open the backing and wadding (it’s a quilt-as-you-go project) to access the seam in question. I really didn't know what to do so I took it to my quilting teacher. I hadn’t been in class for weeks because I hadn’t wanted to share my germs so it wasn't until the very last day of June that the hole was repaired! (Sorry, I forgot to take a photo and the repair is almost invisible!)

I did spend some sewing time at home practising my curved piecing

and in class (after repairing the hole) on foundation piecing so at least some progress was made on my Something New techniques!

My crafting plans for July are as follows:

1. Something Old -- repair the first pair of 4ply (sock weight) socks I ever knitted: they were for WM and I dropped a stitch while grafting the toe; I have had to rip back several rows to find that stitch!
   
2. Something New -- sort my yarn stash, decide what's staying and what’s going then update my stash records on Ravelry! (There’ll be a separate post about this so no photo here)
3. Works in Progress -- sew in the ends of the pair of socks I finished knitting this past weekend (Socks for Someone #4); it took me eight months to knit the first sock and less than a week to knit the second! They were completely finished on 1 July.
   
4. Something Old -- graft the toes of the Tidal Wave socks I started a long time ago (the original pattern can be seen here on Ravelry). According to my Ravelry notes, the socks were in hibernation because they were possibly too small (too short?) but it's time to get them off the needles and move on!
   
5. Something New -- shadow knitting: I’m currently making a scarf which has the illusion of a piano keyboard (Ravelry link)
6. Works in Progress -- sew in the ends of my Nouveau Log Cabin knitted blanket (seen in this post about knitting)
7. Something Old -- finish the Country Houses quilt (you’ve seen this often enough – no more photos till it’s finished!)
8. Something Old -- knit one fingerless mitten (man size)
   
9. Something New -- a new quilting technique for me: Bargello
10. Something New -- cast on Socks for Someone #5 (I always have socks on my needles) -- I cast on last night while I was wastching television; I didn't have enough light to cast on navy mitts (the colour in the photo above is nowhere near dark enough) and I can't sit there doing nothing!
    

I have decided that I will do all ten of these things in July, which is quite ambitious considering how little I usually get done! Some of them are only little projects  so I think it's possible to get it all done... I have listed them here in the order I plan to do them but, who knows?!

What about you?
How did you go with your plans in June?
What are your plans for July?

Remember, your “Something New” project can be to start something new or learning (or practising) a new technique! (This month I'm doing both!)

Please link the URL of your specific blog post here so others can come and check out what you’re up to!

happy finish dance

I’m about two weeks late in posting about my first finish due to my computer being in the shop for eight days!
My Scrappy Log Cabin quilt is completely finished (except for the label). I basted it before class (with the help of my teacher, the shop owner and one of my class mates) on Monday 2 September as planned. My teacher came up with the quilting design and it’s the feature that many people have commented on when looking at the quilt in “real life”.
  
A finish to start the month is a great feeling!

It’s amazing how much was done over four days; especially considering this quilt had languished as a UFO for over twelve months! The quilting was finished on Monday 2 September and the binding was attached and sewn down on Tuesday 3 September. Choosing the fabric for binding this quilt was easy – I just repeated the solid brown I used for the inner border. The quilt was washed to remove all traces of marking for the quilting on Thursday 4 September and photographed on the line while still drying.

And this is the back (before quilting) if you haven’t seen it before.

I need to buy a proper waterproof pen to make my labels – the pen I have been using smudges.

I have a very full schedule from now until the middle of October. Early next month, DD and SIL are going on a trip on “The Ghan” (a train) which goes from Adelaide on Australia’s southern coastline to Darwin on Australia’s northern coastline (and vice-versa of course), a distance of 2971 kilometres (1851 miles). This trip takes three days and is to celebrate SIL’s father’s 60th birthday. Two very active, energetic boys under four would not enjoy the trip so they are coming to stay with us for a week. I will probably need another week to recuperate! ;-)

This weekend, I am tutoring two sessions (Double Knitting and Intarsia & Picture Knitting) at the biennial camp of the Knitters’ Guild of NSW – one on Saturday morning, one on Sunday morning. Next week, we have three billeted guests arriving on Thursday for our church conference (Thursday night to Monday lunchtime). Because I’ll basically be out of the house or hosting all that time, my crafting time will be very limited for the rest of the month so I decided yesterday I was going to get another finish “under my belt” in order to continue with my theme of 2013 being a year for finishing projects!

So here is my second finish.

These blocks were not made by me. they are leftovers from someone’s sampler quilt (the same one I’m making which I talked about in this post). I merely joined the four blocks together (in March!). The project stalled while I searched for suitable backing fabric. Working from donated fabric is often a challenge or a compromise. The fabric that I used for the backing is not ideal but it works!
The red in the flowers picks up the colour of the binding which I had already chosen.

The blue reflects the blue flowers in all of the blocks although it is a lot more intense in the backing fabric. I had to piece this fabric, even though I only needed to make a 27” square – it had been stored for so long that it was filthy along the fold lines. Washing removed some of the dirt but the fabric was also badly faded so I cut the folds of the fabric away and pieced my backing. If you look carefully at the photo below, you’ll see where I pieced it – between the quilting line in the centre and the quilted square on the left. This colour is also more accurate than the one above.

This 24” square quilt is another going to Yasminah’s Gift of Hope after our group’s Airing of the Quilts in April next year. The quilts are given to parents of babies “born asleep” or who die soon after birth. Sometimes the quilt is buried with the baby, sometimes the parents keep the quilt as a keepsake – it is totally up to the recipients. 

But wait … there’s more!

Last night I finished the first of the Purple Cocoon Socks. Today I will cast on the second sock and I will take them to Camp with me as my knitting project. I have taken a photo of the pattern with my iPad so I will not need to carry the book with me – I was going to have my iPad there in any case!
It’s hard to take a good photo of oneself wearing the sock but here it is:

And you know what, the fit in the foot is not too bad after all!

Linking up with Thank Goodness It’s Finished Friday over at Missy Mac Creations (edited to say I'm back from Camp, happy but exhausted -- and that the link is now direct to the TGIFF host page)

first finish of 2013

Here is the January linky party for the Year of the Finished Project. Please join us if you haven't already.
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I started this pair of socks during the last week of December. I needed something to knit while I was sitting around with my family, particularly my mum.

These aren't on my list of WiPs from 2012; there are always socks on my needles for those occasions when I can't concentrate on lace, or work with the many colours of my multi-coloured blankets.

Sorry about the photo -- mum snaffled them just as I removed the last end from the second sock. I had to find them in her suitcase and take a photo with my iPad!

At least I know someone likes my hand-knitted socks, this is her fourth pair -- I only have one!

Nitty-Gritty

• yarn: Moda Vera Noir sock weight yarn, 75% wool/25% polyamide; colourway "Rainbow"; purchased at Spotlight
• needles: 2.25mm (US 1) purchased at Lincraft
• started 24 December, finished 2 January -- 10 days of on-and-off knitting
• pattern: k1p1 rib, stocking stitch, hourglass heel on 64 stitches
• size: small women's

December and 2012 review

 During the second half of this year, I decided to focus my attention on a small number of projects (maximum 7) and not allow myself to be distracted by my UFOs or enticing new projects.

This is my progress during December which shows that I really do work best when I have a short list of projects to focus on!

1. The Very Hungry Caterpillar quilt (finished)
2. Christmas Tree wall-hanging (finished)
3. Cardigan for Me (some progress)
4. Purple Dropped Stitch Scarf (finished)
5. Merlot Toe Up Sock (finished)
6. appliqué blocks (finished)
7. Scrappy Rainbow “hearts and four-patch” quilt (some progress)

I knew there was no way that I would have that cardigan or quilt finished in December; as long as I am making progress, I'm happy.

Here's the final photo of the Purple Dropped Stitch Scarf  -- taken before it was washed and dried to soften it up.

Nitty-Gritty (for those who like such things)
yarn: Panda Magnum 8ply (DK) 100% acrylic; used all but two metres of the 310 in the skein!
purchased at H. Fay and Sons, Bingara
needles: 4.00mm Aero circulars (60cm long) - purchased at David Jones at least 30 years ago!
time taken: 14 days
length and width of scarf: 6" x 72"

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The short "focus list" came into being after I published a list of twenty-six WiPs  -- some quilting, some knitting. That was June and I was overwhelmed by the number of things I was trying to work on.

I have come to realise that the longer I leave a project the less likely it is to get finished -- which I guess is probably true for everyone!


To keep it "short", this is a list of the UFOs and WiPs I carried into 2012, and the progress I made on them; plus the projects I started during 2012 which are not yet finished. I have not included the 55 projects I started and finished during 2012 (85% of them knitted).

1. piano cross stitch (started 1995) – UFO
2. Stealth Knitting Project (started January 2010) – UFO
3. Ambassador of Love mittens (started March 2011) – UFO
4. Country Houses Quilt (started May 2011) – UFO
5. Lace Infinity Scarf (started June 2011) – frogged August 2012
6. sideways baby jumper (started November 2011) – UFO
7.  Safari Cloth Book (started November 2011) – finished October 2012
8. curtains (started November 2011) – embarassingly -- UFO
9. Scrappy Strings quilt (started November 2011)  – UFO
10. Rainbow Scrap Challenge applique heart blocks (started October 2011) – finished December 2012
11. Rainbow Scrap Challenge four patch blocks (started November 2011) – worked on the last couple of months, so a work in progress
12. Rainbow Scrap Challenge nine patch blocks (started November 2011) – worked on the last couple of months so a work in progress
13. Rainbow Scrap Challenge string blocks (started November 2011) – worked on the last couple of months so a work in progress
14. Rainbow Scrap Challenge improv blocks (started November 2011) – worked on the last couple of months so a work in progress
15. Rainbow Scrap Challenge Wonky Window blocks (started November 2011) – worked on the last couple of months so a work in progress
16. purple Cocoon socks (started September 2011) – I can’t make up my mind whether to knit or frog – UFO
17. soft blue socks (started September 2011) – finished July 2012
18. Merlot toe up socks (started September 2011) – finished December 2012
19. intarsia blanket (started November 2011) – finished November 2012
20. Tina’s baby blanket (started January 2012) – frogged July 2012
21. Super Secret Project for Ben (started February 2012) – UFO
22. Dotty Bright (started April 2012)  – made it to the quilting frame but nothing ever happened – UFO
23. Scrappy Log Cabin (started April 2012) – no action (only thought) since June – UFO
24. sampler quilt (first block cut May 2012) – never really got off the ground so it’s not really a WiP or a UFO, in 2013 it will be like a new project!
25. donated partial scrappy string quilt #1 (started May 2012) – UFO
26. donated partial scrappy string quilt #2 – no longer exists, it has been reclaimed as scraps for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge – frogged November 2012
27. hexagon project bag (started in September) – work in progress
28. Deb’s Diamond blanket (started November 21) – work in progress
29. Westall Cardigan (started 27 November) – work in progress

During 2012, I finished a total of 60 projects; three projects were frogged, one project never got started, eight remain works in progress and ten have slipped into being UFOs (I think six months without any action is long enough to call them unfinished objects)! 


That's twenty two projects being carried into the New Year! And twelve of those were started before 2012!

It's not a long list but, for the sake of my sanity, 2013 needs to be “The Year of the Finished Project”!

WiPs on Wednesday

Today I am travelling to my mum’s place. She is having the cataract removed from her other eye on Friday and I am going to be with her until Monday. Please pray that it doesn’t rain in or near the township of Moree like it did last year! You may remember that we became trapped by floodwaters for several days in November last year.

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I am slowly working through the long list of WiPs that I published in June and July but the list just seems to get longer as new projects somehow find their way into my craft room! In fact, only two of the seven projects listed here are on that list!

The things that I am concentrating on this month are:

1. The Very Hungry Caterpillar quilt
2. Christmas Tree wall-hanging
3. Cardigan for Me
4. Deb’s Diamond Blanket
5. Merlot Toe Up Sock
6. hexagon project bag
7. Scrappy Rainbow improv quilt

I don’t know if I’ll get any time to work on that last item. Being away from home for nearly a week plus Christmas activities plus family visiting will cut into my crafting time. Some of these items will not be finished in December: this is just my “focus group”!

Very Hungry Caterpillar Quilt
I am making this quilt for my niece who is expecting her first child in March/April. I just have to sew down the binding and add a label and it will be done! I've not labelled my quilts before: tell me please, what does one write on the label when one doesn’t know the name or the sex of the baby, or even which parent’s surname he/she will have? I guess I could just write “Made with love by Great-Aunty Lynne 2012”. Thoughts?

There is no stain on the quilt top – that is the light shining through the dotty fabric on the back. You can see the backing here if you haven’t seen it before.

Christmas Tree Wall-Hanging
It would be really good if I could get this finished and hanging before Christmas. You have seen these three embroideries separately but here they are all together. The one on the right is the one I finished today.


Cardigan for Me
After much deliberation over patterns, I have chosen to knit the Westall Cardigan (Ravelry link) for me! As I said in this post, I had a bit of trouble getting gauge, which is nothing unusual for me. I finally got within half a stitch using 3.00mm needles instead of the recommended 3.5mm. For those who don’t knit, there are a lot of consequences to not getting the gauge right – the size of garment can be dramatically altered and a loosely knitted garment can stretch beyond redemption after being washed. On the other hand, a garment which is knitted too tightly will strain and pull, and the knitted fabric could pill and wear out much more quickly than would otherwise happen. Worst of all, after hours of knitting and tens of thousands of stitches, it might not fit its intended wearer!

This particular pattern has an unusual construction; it is knitted from the top down, back first then both fronts at once; all three pieces are then joined below the armholes and the rest of the garment is knitted in one piece. It has a gorgeous lace pattern which is relatively simple to knit. This is how much I have knitted since I cast on last Tuesday (27 November). I am up to the armhole shaping of the back and will then go back and pick up the stitches for both fronts from the provisional cast on (that light blue yarn at the bottom of the photo).

 Deb’s Diamond Blanket
After taking twelve months to knit the Intarsia Blanket, I have designed my next blanket project. It is called Deb’s Diamond Blanket and was inspired by this string quilt made by my friend Debbie at Stitchin’ Therapy blog.

My knitted design calls for 112  x 5” (12.5cm) squares which I will join as I go (and sew the ends in – I learnt my lesson from the last blanket). This is how much I have knitted since I started the project on 21 November.  This will be a ten inch square when completed. (3 down, 109 to go!)

 Merlot Toe Up Socks
Neither of my two large knitting projects are ideal for travelling or for knitting in company so I have cast on the second Merlot Sock to take with away with me. I cast on for the first one in September 2011 and would have finished it within a couple of weeks! I wondered why I had put it off for so long but I soon realised while doing Judy’s Magic Cast On on 2.25 (US 1) double-pointed needles -- I don’t like doing this cast on this way. It’s easier on circular needles – but my sock knitting circular needles are otherwise occupied. Obviously I did get it done in the end but it was tricky and annoyingly difficult. Either I’ll use my circulars or stick to cuff down socks for donation knitting in future!

For those who wonder about such things, I am doing 72 stitches and an hourglass heel (from Lynne Vogel's Twisted Sisters' Sock Workbook)

 Hexagon Project Bag
It seems like a long time since I started my Hexagon Project Bag with so much enthusiasm – a quick check of my blog shows that was only September but it feels much longer ago than that. I still need to cut out six pentagons (I didn’t realise that until yesterday) and six half hexagons and tack them down. Yesterday my sewing teacher showed me hoe to join the hexagons so I’ll see how much weight I have in my bag – if I have enough room I can take them as they’ll make a nice change from knitting. There are 36 hexagons in this photo, believe it or not!

Do you like my storage container? For what purpose would one use an old 70’s Tupperware container with a cracked lid if not for craft storage? LOL

The bottom two hexagons are the two my teacher joined as a demonstration.

Scrappy Rainbow Improv Quilt
I have more than enough improv blocks to make a quilt top and have bought some fabric to use as sashing – solids in natural and sand; I can't decide which to use yet till I get the blocks up on the design wall. I enjoy the improv block process so I will be making more I’m sure! They also make a good “leader and ender” project (if I ever remember!).

There are 99 x 6.5” blocks in this pile! I'm not sure where the red ones are hiding!


What are you working on? Do you still have projects you need to finish before Christmas?

Hopefully linking up with WIP Wednesday over at FreshlyPieced blog

on and off the needles

Last month I didn’t do much sewing but I definitely knitted!

a black beanie ( no photos – sorry)

a cowl which I designed on a train while taking my mother to Strathfield to meet her country train – it’s hard to see but it has a textured zigzag pattern

a blanket for a local animal shelter (approximately one metre – 40 inches – “square”) – unblocked because I don’t think animals care!

a pair of socks for mum (Baby Mock Cable - which look so much better than this photo shows)

a pair of “plain vanilla” socks for me (Patonyle, purchased 2008)

four sample socks for the workshop I gave on 16th June

a single repeat on these socks (pattern: Ribbed Ribbon Socks from “Socks from the Toe Up” by Wendy D Johnson)

and 40 rows (8,000 stitches) on this blanket (not 80 rows - 16,000 stitches as stated on my progress report – I counted the ridges and doubled twice but some thing told me that couldn’t be right!). I have added another 26 rows (5,200 stitches) to that this week.

And to think I nearly frogged it when I was just past that pink stripe!

I frogged this blanket (which wasn’t working for me).

On Thursday night I cast on and knitted twelve repeats of Wendy D. Johnson’s Lacy Rib pattern on a bed sock for DD.

I think there are two problems:
1) the toe shaping isn’t quite right for DD’s narrow feet and there are too many stocking stitch rows before the pattern begins
2) I’m knitting DK weight on 2.75mm (US 2) needles; I think the fabric is too tight for bed socks and I need to go up to 3.25mm needles (which DD has and therefore I couldn’t use them in the first place)

What do you think?

on and off the needles

Firstly, thank you all for your kind comments and emails regarding my internet fiasco! I really appreciated each and every one of them. Yesterday, I spent over an hour (knitting and) watching a fourteen minute video from my course. I watched two minutes of the second video in half an hour – time to give up when it gets that slow!

I have been knitting and sewing as well as spending a lot of time on the computer. Today the knitted objects have the limelight.

I have continued to knit cowls and mitts for the charities I support.

I indulged my interest in stranded colour-work to use up some of the left-overs from previous cowls.

As winter approaches I appreciate having a roof over my head and a warm bed to sleep in and I really feel for the homeless and less fortunate at this time of year.

I also couldn’t restrain myself from seeing how this yarn knitted up. DD won a ball of novelty yarn, Carmen by Mondial (Italian), at the Knitters’ Guild meeting last month. I didn’t take a photo of the ball but here is a snippet of the yarn – it’s basically variegated blue tape with little dangling yellow pieces every couple of inches. The second picture is the detail of the knitted yarn.

DD gave the ball to me because she doesn’t have the patience to knit novelty yarns. The vendor at the meeting claimed that a scarf could be knitted from one ball.
As you can see, it’s a very small scarf even knitted on needles one size larger than recommended (6.5mm - 10.5 US). This one is approximately 10cm (4”) wide and (90cm) 36” long. Ah well, some young girl will probably like it.

Mothers’ Day is approaching and I found myself wondering about a gift for my mother. I have already knitted a pair of striped socks which she knows about but have added a second pair. I hope she likes them because they are fraternal not identical!

On Tuesday evening, I foolishly thought I could get another pair finished before Sunday. A cuff-down pair with baby cable rib and a gusset heel (instead of my usual hourglass heel).I am using Cleckheaton Cocoon (70% wool – 30% polyamide). This is the first sock at the time of writing.

Do you think I can get them finished given that WM and I are leaving for northern NSW this afternoon and will be at mum's late morning tomorrow?